Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s speech at foundation stone laying ceremony of Noida International Airport at Jewar, Uttar Pradesh
Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Bharat Mata Ki Jai
The popular and Karmayogi Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath ji, our old energetic colleague and Deputy Chief Minister Shri Keshav Prasad Maurya ji, my colleagues in the Union Cabinet, Shri JyotiradityaScindia ji, General V.K. Singh ji, Sanjeev Balyan ji, S.P. Singh Baghel ji and B.L.Verma ji, Ministers in the Government of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Laxmi Narayan Choudhary ji, Shri Jai Pratap Singh ji, Shrikant Sharma ji, Bhupendra Chaudhary ji, Shri Nandgopal Gupta ji, Anil Sharma ji, Dharam Singh Saini ji , Ashok Kataria ji and Shri G. S. Dharmesh ji, my colleagues in Parliament Dr. Mahesh Sharma ji, Shri Surendra Singh Nagar ji and Shri Bhola Singh ji, local MLA Shri Dhirendra Singh ji, all other public representatives sitting on the dais and my dear brothers and sisters who have come in large numbers to bless us.
Many congratulations to all of you, to the people of the country and to our brothers and sisters of Uttar Pradesh on the occasion of the foundation laying ceremony of the Noida International Airport. Today, Jewar, which is famous for Dauji fair, has also been inscribed on the international map. Millions of people from Delhi-NCR and western UP will benefit from this airport. I congratulate all of you and the entire country for this airport.
Friends,
The new India of the 21st century is building one of the best modern infrastructures. Better roads, rail network and airports are not merely infrastructure projects, but they transform the entire region and people's lives completely. Everyone, be it poor or middle class, farmers or traders, laborers or entrepreneurs, gets a lot of benefits from it. Infrastructure projects get a boost when there is seamless and last mile connectivity. The Noida International Airport will also become a great model from the point of view of connectivity. There will be all kinds of connectivity from taxi to metro and rail to commute here. As soon as you come out of the airport, you can directly hit the Yamuna Expressway or the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. If you have to go anywhere in UP, Delhi or Haryana, you can reach the Peripheral Expressway in no time. And now the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is also about to be ready. It will also make it easier to reach many cities. Moreover, there will also be direct connectivity to the dedicated freight corridor from here. In a way, the Noida International Airport will become the logistics gateway of northern India. This will make the entire region a powerful reflection of the National GatiShakti Master Plan.
Friends,
Noida International Airport will also have an important role at a time when the aviation sector is growing rapidly in the country and the speed with which Indian companies are buying hundreds of new aircraft. This airport will also be the country's largest center for maintenance, repair and operation of aircraft. Built over 40 acres, the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul  facility will service the aircraft of the country and abroad and will provide employment to hundreds of youth. Imagine, even today we send 85 percent of our planes abroad for MRO services and it costs 15,000 crore rupees every year. This project will cost Rs. 30,000 crores. About 15,000 crore rupees go to other countries only for repairing  every year. Now this airport will help change this situation as well.
Brothers and sisters,
For the first time, the idea of an integrated multi-modal cargo hub in the country is also being realized through this airport. This will give a new impetus to the development of this entire region. We all know that ports are an important asset for the states whose borders are adjacent to the sea. It is very useful for development. But for land-locked states like UP, airports play this role. There are many industrial areas like Aligarh, Mathura, Meerut, Agra, Bijnor, Moradabad and Bareilly. There is also a large ecosystem of the service sector and western Uttar Pradesh has a significant share in the agriculture sector as well. Now the potential of these areas will also increase manifold. This international airport will directly connect exporters with international markets. Now the farmers, especially small farmers, will be able to export the perishable produce like fruits, vegetables and fish swiftly. The artists of Khurja, sports industry of Meerut, furniture manufacturers of Saharanpur, brass industry of Moradabad, those engaged in footwear and ‘petha’  in Agra and many MSMEs of western UP will have more ease in accessing foreign markets.
Friends,
Airports in any area bring about such a cycle of change that leads to all-round development. Thousands of employment opportunities are created during airport construction. Thousands of people are also required to run the airport smoothly. This airport will create employment for thousands of people in western UP. Being in close vicinity of the capital, such regions did not have the facility of airport earlier as it was considered that there is already an airport in Delhi. We changed this perception. We made Hindon Airport operational for passenger services. Similarly, work is going on for an airport at Hisar in Haryana.
Brothers and sisters,
When air connectivity expands, tourism also flourishes. We all have seen that there is a continuous increase in the number of devotees after helicopter services were introduced to Mata Vaishno Devi and Kedarnath Yatra. The Noida International Airport will do the same for the famous tourist and important centers of faith of western UP.
Friends,
Uttar Pradesh has started getting what it always deserved after seven decades of independence. Today Uttar Pradesh is turning into one of the most connected regions of the country due to the efforts of the double engine government. Projects worth lakhs of crores of rupees are underway in western UP. Be it Rapid Rail Corridor, Expressway, Metro connectivity or Dedicated Freight Corridor connecting UP with Eastern and Western Seas, these are becoming a new identity of the modern Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh was subjected to taunts for so many years after independence -- taunts related to poverty, caste-based politics, scams worth thousands of crores of rupees, bad roads, lack of industries, stalled development projects, criminals and mafia gangs and opportunistic political alliances. The competent people of UP always questioned whether there would ever be a positive image of UP.
Brothers and sisters,
Today Uttar Pradesh, which was kept in deprivation and darkness and sold distorted dreams by the previous governments, is leaving its mark not only nationally but internationally also. Today, medical and educational institutions of international standard are being built in UP. International level highways, expressways, rail connectivity projects are taking place in UP and it is becoming the center of investment of multinational companies. That is why today the investors of the country and the world say – Uttar Pradesh means best facilities andsteady investment. UP's international air connectivity is giving new dimensions to this international identity of UP. UP will become a state with five international airports in the next 2-3 years when this airport starts functioning.
Friends,
Jewar airport is also an example of how the earlier governments in UP and at the Center ignored the development of western Uttar Pradesh. The BJP government of UP had dreamed of this project two decades ago. But this airport was entangled in the tussle of the earlier governments in Delhi and Lucknow for many years. The earlier government in UP had in fact written a letter to the then central government that this airport project should be shelved. Now with the efforts of the double engine government, today we are witnessing the foundation laying ceremony of the same airport.
Well friends, I would like to tell you one more thing today. Had Modi-Yogi wanted, they would also have come here,laid the foundation stone as soon as the government was formed in 2017, got the photographs clicked and issued press releases in newspapers and people would not have found anything wrong due to the practices of the earlier governments. Earlier, announcements of infrastructure projects were made in a hurry for political gains. Lines were drawn on paper, but not due consideration was paid how the projects would take off, how the bottlenecks would be removed and from where funds would be arranged. As a result, projects would never be ready for decades. They would make the announcement,the cost of the project would escalate manifold, there would be excuses and there was an exercise to blame the delay on others. But we did not do so because infrastructure is not part of politics for us but part of national policy. India's bright future is our responsibility. We are making sure that the projects do not get stuck, do not hang in fire, and do not go off the target. We try to ensure that the infrastructure work is completed within the stipulated time. We have also made provision for penalty for delay.
Friends,
Earlier, the malpractices regarding the  land of the farmers also became a big hindrance in the delay of the projects. Here only, land was taken by the earlier governments from the farmers for many such projects, but either the projects were marred by the problems of compensation or the land was lying idle for years. We removed these hurdles in the interest of the farmers, in the interest of the project and in the interest of the country. We ensured that the administration procured land from farmers on time and with complete transparency. As a result, we have succeeded in laying the foundation stone of this project worth 30,000 crore rupees.
Friends,
Today quality infrastructure and excellent facilities are being ensured for every common citizen. The dream of the common citizen of the country to travel by air has also come true today due to the UDAN scheme. I find our efforts successful when somebody says happily that he has traveled with his parents for the first time from the airport near his home and when he shares his photo. I am happy that flights have started operating from eight airports in UP alone in the last few years and work is on in several other airports.
Brothers and sisters,
Some political parties in our country have always kept their self-interest paramount. Their perception for development was limited to their selfishness or the areas where they and their families lived, whereas we follow the spirit of nation first. Our mantra is SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and SabkaPrayas. The people of UP and the country have observed the kind of politics done by some political parties in the last few weeks, but India did not move away from the path of development. Some time back, India crossed a difficult milestone of administering 100 crore vaccine doses. Earlier this month, India announced a net zero target  by 2070. Sometime back the International Airport was inaugurated in Kushinagar. The health infrastructure of the country was strengthened by starting nine medical colleges simultaneously in UP itself.Last week only, new dam and irrigation projects were inaugurated in Mahoba, while the work of Defence Corridor gained momentum in Jhansi and Purvanchal Expressway was dedicated to the people of UP. And a day before that we celebrated the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas anda very grand and modern railway station was inaugurated in Madhya Pradesh. In this month itself, a national highway of hundreds of kilometers has been inaugurated and the foundation stone laid in Pandharpur, Maharashtra. And today the foundation stone of the Noida International Airport has been laid. The selfishness of some political parties can never stand before our patriotism and national service.
Friends,
Today, work is going on at a rapid pace on many modern projects keeping in mind the requirements of the 21st century. This momentum and progress is the guarantee of a capable and strong India. This progress, convenience and ease will ensure the prosperity of the common Indian. UP will play a leading role in this campaign with your blessings and the commitment of the double engine government. With the belief that we will move forward together, many congratulations to you for the international airport once again.
Say with me:
Bharat Mata Ki Jai!
Bharat Mata Ki Jai!
Bharat Mata Ki Jai!
Many thanks!
DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.